Stamp album sheets

ABSTRACT

A combination stamp album display and stock sheet comprises a sheet of stiff backing material with a plurality of transparent film display and storage stamp holders on both sides of the sheet. The sheet of backing material has a plurality of spaced apart slits formed through the sheet with each slit being parallel to the end edges of the sheet. Each stamp holder is composed of a film of flexible transparent material that is doubled over on itself to form two leafs that meet at a doubled edge. Each film passes through each slit with the doubled edge being coincident with the slit so that one leaf is superimposed over a portion of one face of the sheet to form a pocket for holding a stamp and the other leaf is superimposed over a portion of the other face of the sheet to form another pocket for holding a stamp. A strip of adhesive material extends over and beyond the slit and is co-extensive with the sheet and the film to lock the film with respect to the sheet. In use, a stamp for display is disposed in one pocket and extra stock stamps are disposed in the other pocket on the opposite side of the sheet.

United States Patent [191 Buco [ STAMP ALBUM SHEETS [76] Inventor: Stephen Nicholas Buco, 345 E.

Burrell St., Blairsville, Pa. 15717 [22] Filed: July 19, 1973 [2]] Appl. No.: 380,729

[52] US. Cl. 40/159, 40/104.19 [51] Int. Cl. G09f l/10 [58] Field of Search 40/158, 159, 159 B, 124.2,

. 40/lO4.l9

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,960,8l3 5/l924 Holder 40/l24.2 1,977,667 10/1934 Breitkreuz 40/158 R X 2,282,872 5/1942 Mayer et al 40/159 Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell Assistant Examiner-Wenceslao .l. Contreras Attorney, Agent, or FirmFred C. Trenor, Esq.

[57] ABSTRACT A combination stamp album display and stock sheet Dec. 10, 1974 comprises a sheet of stiff backing material with a plurality of transparent film display and storage stamp holders on both sides of the sheet. The sheet of backing material has a plurality of spaced apart slits formed through the sheet with each slit being parallel to the end edges of the sheet Each stamp holder is composed of a film of flexible transparent material that is doubled over on itself to form two leafs that meet at a doubled edge. Each film passes through each slit with the doubled edge being coincident with the slit so that one leaf is superimposed over a portion of one face of the sheet to form a pocket for holding a stamp and the other leaf is superimposed over a portion of the other face of the sheet to form another pocket for holding a stamp A strip of adhesive material extends over and beyond the slit and is co-extensive with the sheet and the film to lock the film with respect to the sheet.

In use, a stamp for display is disposed in one pocket and extra stock stamps are disposed in the other pocket on the opposite side of the sheet.

1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures Jlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllillllll r llllllllllllllillIl/lllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllll STAMP ALBUM SHEETS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display and storage device for postage stamps and the like wherein the entire face of the stampis visible yet protected in an album or the like.

Heretofore, in the mounting of stamps for display in an album, it has been necessary to use gummed paper hinges or transparent envelopes to fix the stamp for display to an album sheet. When a paper hinge is used, one-half of it is attached to the album page and the other halfv is attached to a portion of the stamp. Such hinges are small rectangles measuring about one-half by three-quarters of an inch. The use of paper hinges is a procedure that is time consuming and, in many cases, may result in damage to the stamp itself when the stamp is removed from the album. If such damage does occur to the stamp, then its value substantially decreases. Another disadvantage of paper hinges is that the surface of the stamp is uncovered and exposed so that it can readily be injured or soiled. A further disadvantage of the usage of paper hinges is that the stamps may be askew on the album page and present an unslightly appearance. Moreover, since the stamps may extend upwardly about their hinged edges, they are lost and unintentionally folded over upon themselves and creased thereby reducing the value of the stamp.

When a transparent envelope is used to mount a stamp, the envelope is customarily attached along the rear face to the album page and is so attached by using tweezers or the like on the stamp to insert or to remove it from the envelope. The disadvantage of this technique is that the stamp may be damaged as the perfo; rated stamp edges catch upon the open edges of the flap of the envelope. Also, the envelopes when mounted often obscure the printed matter which usually is provided in typical stamp albums. Also, the

stamp being loosely disposed in the envelope is free to shift about in the envelope and, accordingly, it is difficult to maintain the stamps in alignment to present a neat appearing album sheet.

2. Description of the Prior Art U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,187 (Hillmer) describes and illustrates a device for the display of postage stamps that comprises a transparent sheet covering the entire surface of a stamp album sheet which is laminated to the stamp album sheet by use of parallel adhesive strips between which intervening bands of unadhered strips appear. Between the strips there are printed broad lines outlining spaces for stamps to be placed on various portions of the page. The film is slit parallel to and between the adhered strips to permit the insertion of a postage stamp into the pocket thereby provided. The disadvantage of the Hillmer sheet is that the placement of a postage stamp into the pocket is cumbersome and often the stamp can easily be damaged upon insertion into the pocket as the serrated edges of the stamp catch upon the open edges of the pocket. A further disadvantage of the Hillmer sheet is that the clear, transparent sheet must cover the entire page of the stamp album sheet thereby increasing its cost and being totally unnecessary in view of applicants invention. A still further disadvantage of the Hillmer sheet is that it is only capable of displaying postage stamps but does not have the capability of storing additional stock postage stamps and, therefore, the Hillmer sheet is of limited utility.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,508,854 (Brodsky) describes and illustrates a stamp mount composed of a rectangular transparent face member and a rectangular n0n transparent backing member arranged in a flat superimposed relationship with respect to each other and secured together along a single corresponding edge by an intervening film of adhesive that is applied marginally along this secured edge. The mount is adapted to receive a stamp between the members and to wedge them in a position therebetween. The limitation of the Brodsky mount is that while it can be used satisfactorily to mount a postage stamp for display it cannot be used for the holding of additional stock stamps and, accordingly, it is of limited utility.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,925,677 (Holes) describes and illustrates an album sheet for use in displaying postage stamps and comprises a sheet of backing material having a plurality of spaced slits formed through it and that extend continuously from a point near one of the side edges to a point near the other side edge of the sheet. Each slit is substantially perpendicular to the side edges of the sheet and thereby divide the sheet into a plurality of strips extending transversely of the sheet. A transparent film forming a continuous sleeve encircles each of the strips so as to permit the insertion of a postage stamp in the open ends on each side of the sheet for retention there against the sleeve. The Holes album sheet has several limitations. First of all, the album sheet is extremely difficult to manufacture. Particularly, the insertion of the transparent sleeve in the inner sections of the album sheet is difficult as a piece of transparent film must first be inserted into the slits and folded on itself and then adhered together. It is more difficult to insert postage stamps in the pockets formed between the sleeve and the stiff backing material. Also, the stamp may be damaged on insertion into the pockets as the serrated edges of the stamp may be caught on the sleeve. A further limitation of the Holes album sheet is that it is not especially well-adapted to serve the two purposes of displaying a postage stamp and of holding additional stock stamps and the like and, accordingly, it is restricted in its utility.

Accordingly, there has been a long felt need to produce a stamp album sheet that is capable of serving two functions, namely, neatly displaying a postage stamp and, secondly, holding additional stock stamps and the like in near proximity to the display stamp.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, a device for the display and for the storage of postage stamps comprises a sheet of relatively stiff backing material having parallel end edges and parallel side edges. The sheet has a plurality of spaced apart slits formed through it with each slit extending from a point near one of the side edges and extending to a point near the other side edge with the slit being parallel to the end edges. A film of flexible transparent material is doubled over on itself forming two leaves meeting at a doubled edge. Each film passes through each slit with the doubled edge being coincident with the slit so that one leaf is superimposed over a portion of one face of the sheet to form a pocket and the other leaf is superimposed over a portion of the other face of the sheet to form a pocket. The

film is crimped at about one-quarter of an inch from its doubled edge. A strip of adhesive material extends over and beyond the slit and is co-extensive with the sheet and the film so that the film is locked with respect to the sheet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a loose-leaf album sheet made in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of a part of the sheet at FIG. 1 taken at lines II-II of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The combination display and storage sheet of the invention is generally indicated in FIG. 1 at 11. The sheet ordinarily has dimensions of 9- /2 by 1 1- /2 inches. The sheet 11 has two end edges 13a and 13b that are parallel with each other and two side edges 15a and 15b that are likewise parallel with each other to form a rectangular sheet as illustrated in FIG. 1. The sheet 11 includes a border generally indicated at 17 printed near the edges of the sheet and has holes 19 punched through the sheet so that it can be inserted into a looseleaf binder.

The sheet 11 has a plurality of holders at 21 composed of a transparent film that are used to hold a postage stamp 23 or the like between the sheet 11 and the holder 21.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the holder comprises a transparent film that is composed of a flexible material and that is doubled over on itself to form two leafs 25a and 25b that meet at the doubled edge 250. Each holder passes through a slot 27 in the sheet 11 with doubled edge 25c being coincident with the slot 27. As illustrated in FIG. 1, each slot 27 extends from a point near one of the side edges 15a and extends to a point near the other side edge 15b. All of the slots 27 are parallel to the end edges Ba and 13b. In FIG. 1, the two upper holders identified as 21a and 21b are adjacent each other. Their slots 27 are both aligned with each other but the slots 27 do not extend entirely across the face of the sheet 11 but are merely long enough to accommodate the width of the holders 21a and 21b. On the other hand, the holder 210 at the lower half of the sheet 11, has but one slot 27 that likewise is long enough to accommodate the holder 210. One skilled in the art may arrange the holders and their corresponding slots on the sheet in any desired fashion.

In FIG. 2, leaf 25a is superimposed over a portion of the face of sheet 11 to form a pocket 29a and the other leaf 25b is superimposed over a portion of the other face of the sheet 11 to form another pocket 29!).

The film 21 is crimped at 31 at about one-quarter inch from the double edge 250 so as to lock the postage stamp 23 between ,the respective leaves of the holder and the sheet.

A strip of adhesive material 33 extends over and beyond the slot 27 and is coextensive with the sheet and the film to lock the film with respect to the sheet. The adhesive material 33 may be placed on either side of the sheet. Any suitable substitute may be used for locking the holder 21 to the sheet 11.

The material of which the sheet 11 is composed is preferably a stiff paper. The transparent film is preferably composed of a plastic material that is transparent such as, for example, regenerated cellulose, cellulose acetate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyethylene or vinylidene chloride-vinyl chloride copolymer. The film may be between I to 10 mils in thickness, preferably, however, a thickness of two to five mils is used. The thickness depends upon the stiffness of the particular type of film employed in accordance with my invention.

In use, as illustrated specially in FIG. 2, a single stamp is mounted on the page by lifting the film and positioning the stamp and thereupon releasing the film. When the film rests against the sheet 11, the stamp will be held firmly in place. It will be observed that the crimp at 31 additionaly serves to lock the postage stamp into a position whereupon it cannot be readily moved. Preferably for display purposes, a single stamp is disposed between the film and the sheet. It will be observed on the other side of the sheet that there are at least three postage stamps in the pocket 2912 that are likewise placed into the pocket by lifting the leaf 25b and disposing the stamp therein. This extra pocket is a desirable feature of my invention in that a collector having additional stamps may store the stock or additional stamps in the storage pocket. When there is a need to remove the stamps from the pocket, the page is simply turned, the leaf lifted and the single stamp removed.

While my invention has been described with particularity with respect to postage stamps, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that its application is not intended to be limited to the mere display and storage of postage stamps. On the contrary, my invention has application to the display and storage of other like items such as photographs and the like.

It will be appreciated that other modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention and that the foregoing embodiments are intended to illustrate but not to limit the invention.

I claim:

1. A device for the display ofa postage stamp and for the storage of additional similar stamps comprising:

a. A sheet of stiff backing material having parallel end edges and parallel side edges; said sheet having a plurality of spaced apart slots formed through the sheet; each slot extending from a point near one of the side edges and extending to a point near the other side edge and being parallel to said end edges;

b. films of flexible form-sustaining transparent material being doubled over on themselves forming two leaves meeting at a doubled edge; each film passing through each slot with the doubled edge being coincident with the slot so that one leaf is superimposed over a portion of one face of said sheet to form a pocket and the other leaf is superimposed over a portion of the other face of said sheet to form a pocket; said film being depressed transversely along a line that is parallel to the doubled edge at about one-quarter inch from the doubled edge; and,

c. a strip of adhesive material extending over and beyond said slot and being coextensive with said sheet and film to lock said film with respect to said sheet. 

1. A device for the display of a postage stamp and for the storage of additional similar stamps comprising: a. A sheet of stiff backing material having parallel end edges and parallel side edges; said sheet having a plurality of spaced apart slots formed through the sheet; each slot extending from a point near one of the side edges and extending to a point near the other side edge and being parallel to said end edges; b. films of flexible form-sustaining transparent material being doubled over on themselves forming two leaves meeting at a doubled edge; each film passing through each slot with the doubled edge being coincident with the slot so that one leaf is superimposed over a portion of one face of said sheet to form a pocket and the other leaf is superimposed over a portion of the other face of said sheet to form a pocket; said film being depressed transversely along a line that is parallel to the doubled edge at about one-quarter inch from the doubled edge; and, c. a strip of adhesive material extending over and beyond said slot and being coextensive with said sheet and film to lock said film with respect to said sheet. 